Posted on 11/22/2009 7:02:22 AM PST by opentalk
Although federal health officials decline to use the word “peaked,” the current wave of swine flu appears to have done so in the United States.
Flu activity is coming down in all regions of the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, though it is still rising in Hawaii, Maine and some isolated areas.
The World Health Organization said Friday that there were “early signs of a peak” in much of the United States.
On Wednesday, the American College Health Association, which surveys over 250 colleges with more than three million students, said new cases of flu had dropped in the week ending Nov. 13. It was the first drop since school resumed in the fall, and it was significant — new cases were down 27 percent from the week before.
And on Friday, Quest Diagnostics, the country’s largest laboratory, said its tests of 142,000 suspected flu specimens since May showed that the flu peaked in late October.
Nonetheless, Dr. Anne Schuchat, the director of immunization and respiratory diseases at the C.D.C., chose her words carefully, saying: “I wish I knew if we had hit the peak. Even if a peak has occurred, half the people who are going to get sick haven’t gotten sick yet.”
Dr. Schuchat also noted that even when new infections topped out, hospitalizations and deaths were still on the way up, because most took place days or weeks later.
Privately, federal health officials say they fear that if they concede the flu has peaked, Americans will become complacent and lose interest in being vaccinated, increasing the chances of another wave.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Since they aren’t testing for swine flu, how do they know this? My little niece and nephews were just released from the hospital. One’s lung collapsed and all had pneumonia. While the numbers didn’t reach expectations, it’s still nothing to scoff at.
My hospital continues to very aggressively test for influenza, using both a rapid screen and a second test that takes longer to produce a result but is much more sensitive. Our cases of swine flu have definitely peaked, but not before causing several previously healthy children and adults to end up in ICUs. Also, that incidence has slowed doesn’t mean that it can’t pick up speed again.
Exactly.
Nothing has peaked......people are holiday traveling, going to large work parties and having family events with lots of kids present, I think this is a lull.
So much for the epidemic.....wonder what obammmma and his 40 thieves can scare us with next so we avoid seeing what he’s doing with his left hand
What a lie and a joke. There NEVER was a swine flu epidemic! Leftist tripe!
Hey, they got their money so the crisis is now over. At my office they are giving out door prizes to get the H1N1 shot. Still can’t get but about 50% and this is at a health care facility.
“So much for the epidemic.....wonder what obammmma and his 40 thieves can scare us with next so we avoid seeing what he’s doing with his left hand”
Oh, this epidemic is bound to last—after all, big pharm must continue to be paid for the vaccines
“Editor sleeping on the job alert!!!!!”
Someone will get fired for printing this story!
Video Report: Ukraine Plague, Isreali Scientist and Baxter
This death by plague scenario is getting virtually no coverage in the mainstream media. There is a total news blackout on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN. The only place you will get this news is via YouTube. My own news site has been censored and blocked from news updates for 14 days. Check my freeper page for details. Soon YouTube may be blocked as well. Probably coming next year is martial law.
Live with the truth. Or die by your silence. The choice is yours . . .
What’s getting me is that I still can’t get the vaccine for my son. They have these free clinics, but there are thousands of people at these clinics. They give out the shots to people without insurance, but they aren’t distributing them to the pediatricians offices. I have a hip injury, and there is no way I’m standing in line with thousands of people to get my son’s vaccine.
That might be their first attempt at getting ObamaCare passed. Imagine only ObamaCare members get treatments the next time something big hits. I don't care if it's peaked or not, it's still out there and it's not a laughing matter if you your child gets sick. Now, with the holidays, it will be spread and rise again.
I don't know how old your son is but our school has bumped up their sanitation practices this year. The custodians are really having to tow the line about how they clean the lunchroom and they have to make sure there is soap in every restroom. In the past the boys' restroom would get their soap taken away (?!?) because they'd tear the dispenser off the wall and make messes with it. Anyway this year washing hands is a must and they've put in the foaming soap in the restrooms because it's more fun so maybe the kids will use it more. There are also hand sanitizers in every room and by the office and such. Students play with the blobs of sanitizer but at least they have clean hands! Yes, kids are actually using it so not much to argue about there, huh. At home, we're taking a good multi-vit, D3, pro-biotic acidophilus, and cranberry supplements to boost our immune systems. We also have some over the counter treatments in case.
Obamacare really scares me, especially after the vaccine distribution problems. In the past, vaccine distribution was done privately, and it was better.
My daughters are high risk for complications from H1N1 (one has epilepsy and the other asthma). They’ve both had the vaccine.
The girls changed schools this year to go to the same school as my son. Their old Christian school (in California) was horrible about having kids wash their hands. The kids didn’t want to waste water. My daughter with asthma got sick a ton last year, and she was also teased for washing her hands a lot.
The new school is great about hygeine. It’s too early to see how often my kids get sick.
My daughter with asthma may have already gotten H1N1 a day before she got the vaccine. Long story. She just got over being sick.
We’ve been doing all the vitamin D and other supplements to help our immune system. My daughter with epilepsy has problems with low vitamin D because of her anti-seizure medication.
I’m hoping we’ll be healthier this year.
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